Thai Chai

I really really love this tea- the lemongrass can be pretty strong sometimes, but i made this iced and it was just delicious til the last drop!

I keep forgetting how much I like this stuff.
It’s one of the two teas from Adagio that I ever adored enough to go out and buy a pound of (that, and it’s very inexpensive).

I don’t really see this as a Chai in my mind. I see it more as…a naturally flavored tea. It’s kind of in its own category. As a big fan of coconut, I really like the flavor in this, and while lemongrass isn’t something I would think to add to a black tea, it works very well.

I do have to use more leaf per cup than I do with most of my other teas. A lot more leaf. Like 2-3 times as much. But again, the stuff is so inexpensive ($19 a pound) that it hardly matters.

A lot of people suggest trying this with coconut milk or heavy cream. I have tried these, and found them just a bit much for me. To me, the flavors of those heavier creamers overpower the flavor of the tea just a bit. A splash of plain 2% milk is just perfect for me.

One thing I haven’t done yet is tried this iced. That’s pretty high on my to-do list when warmer weather comes around.

Thanks so much for this, Rebecca! Steeped some of this up this morning to try to banish my cold (which is leaving pretty quickly anyway). I added a little bit of unsweetened soymilk and a small dab of honey. Oh man, this is great…it’s definitely unusual with the bright notes of the lemongrass. I like how the pepper feels smoky along the back of my throat. It’s just what I need right now. Also, this resteeps really well (adding 1 minute for each additional steep), especially for a chai. I can still feel and taste the delightful spiciness. I’m on the third steep now and will try for one more, which I think it’ll be able to do. This is just…lovely.

Not really a Chai person, but this was very good. Hints of nuttiness and very spicy.

As a big fan of Chai teas and the flavors of coconut and lemongrass, I’m very much enjoying this tea. This will be one that I buy again and again and this tea lives up to the hype from its reviewers on Adagio’s website. I’m drinking this one plain and the flavors all make a great stance for themselves. I used 1.5 tsps in a 12oz cup @ 208º for 5 minutes. I think I’ll stick with this amount for now and go up to 2 tsps if I’m feeling particularly “daring.” I highly recommend this tea.

I swoon over this tea. So many flavors going on, spicy, coconut, lemongrass…yum. I made some chocolate cupcakes and brewed some of this tea into the butter, they were pretty fabulous. Highly recommended.

Holy lemongrass batman! What a potent and delicious mix of cinnamon, ginger and grass of the lemon. I can’t taste the black base too much, but I blame that on my limited palate. The coconut is pretty to look at but I don’t taste it at all either. But honestly, if you love lemongrass as much as I do I don’t think it will matter. Too bad this is a sample size, and a co-worker spilled about a teaspoons worth on the floor.

Also, I’m scared to add milk to this chai. Terrified, actually. It’s so damn tasty without it anyway.

I got this from a friend I went to school with. I opened the bag, and it smelled like bowl of tom kha kai. I LOVE that soup, could seriously eat it everyday. So I am already very excited to brew this. I did what Jillian recommend, but brewed in 1 1/2C 2%milk, 1/2 C cream, and and 1/2 water. I simmered it for 3 minutes. I would even brewed it longer. I sweetened with sugar and a little honey.

It has a little Fruit Loop like taste to it, too .Very yummy. Wonderful blend of flavors with lemongrass, coconut, ginger, cinnamon. Wow, best blended chai I have had, seriously.

If you are a fan of Thai food, this tea is for you. I will have to buy more…

First tasting, did some experimenting with the tea.

First steep was 5.8gr/7oz water for 5 min. I liked a lot, could taste the ginger kick and the subtle lemongrass, but it was missing something. Second steep at 6min I added half a teaspoon of sugar, it was quite lovely. 3rd steep for 7 min with sugar was a bit bipolar: some sips were nice, others soapy.

I was looking for a comfort tea earlier, and my best idea of that is a chai latte. I’ve had this one in my stash for a little while, but it’s always been overlooked because it’s a bit of an oddball. When I think of chai, I tend not to think of either thailand or coconut, but there you go.

This was actually a very pleasant surprise. I’d never have believed it could work, but I found the coconut actually added a gorgeous creamy sweetness, which suited the milkiness of a chai latte perfectly. I was perhaps more surprised to find that the coconut actually stood out among the other ingredients. I’d thought it would get lost among the stronger flavours (perhaps particularly the cinnamon and ginger) but it was actually the primary taste.

Looking at the dry leaves, I could easily pick out most of the constituents — there’s pieces of cinnamon bark and ginger root, lemongrass, and dried coconut. I couldn’t see any cardamon pods, but that might just be luck of the draw with the spoonfuls I took out. Like most chai, this one has a black tea base, which, according to the ingredients, is coconut flavoured. I’m assuming that this is Adagio’s coconut flavoured black, which I actually have separately in my stash. That would make it a ceylon base, which I suppose accords with what I could taste. I have to say, though, that I’m more used to my chai being assam-based, and so to my mind this lacked a little depth. Perhaps that’s what allowed the coconut flavour to shine through so well, however.

Brewed, this smells wonderfully coconutty and creamy, with a hint of spicyness in the background. Same to taste. I was impressed with this tea — more so than I expected to be. When my sample runs out, this might well take its place among the teas I have on hand. It’s a little bit different, and so, so delicious. Definetly worth the risk!